


right message, right time

by ratherthepoint



Series: right messages, wrong times [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Cool cool I spelled Eodwulf as Eadwulf the whole tine and I'm not changing it now, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I don't know what tags work. what do I pick. oh boy., Implied/Referenced Torture, Trent Ikithon (mentioned) - Freeform, spoilers of e128
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 10:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29873142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ratherthepoint/pseuds/ratherthepoint
Summary: Astrid and Eadwulf knew the risk they were taking when they warned the Mighty Nein to run. They did it anyways. And now, they face the consequences.Luckily, Jester has 25 words of nonsense to send and a habit of checking in on people at just the right time.
Series: right messages, wrong times [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199564
Comments: 14
Kudos: 88





	right message, right time

**Author's Note:**

> Okay okay okay. So here's the thing, I'm studying for my first Boards exam, and have decided that for Lent/Study Prison I'm staying off social media until APRIL 24th, which would be perfectly fine if Critical Role weren't going through the most intense storyline right now. I can't handle my angsty feelings alone. So instead, I'm.... pouring them out into fic? I guess? That's actually a reasonably healthy decision, I think. Anyways, this gave me a great study break, which is always appreciated. 
> 
> Just some typical, average, everyday angst about KBG assassin types. I'm gonna be honest, canon is taken pretty loosely. No time to check old episodes when you've got two months before the biggest test of your life, you know? It's fine, I'm fine.

It was a full day before Jester found the time to send a message to Astrid to thank her for what she'd done. After a tense 8 hours in the Fire Plane with a rambunctious four year old, a brief stop in Tal’Dorei to leave Marion and the Brenottos with Allura and Kima, and a teleportation to the Xhorhouse, the Might Nein finally had a moment to breathe. They split up immediately - Caduceus to the roof to check on his tree, Beau and Yasha to take a definitely-not-R-rated dip in the hot tub, Caleb and Veth to their workshop for brainstorming - they met up in the kitchen rested and ready to plan their next step. 

“Caleb, do you think it would be ok if I maybe messaged Astrid?” Jester asked as Caduceus passed around hot chocolate. “It’s just, she saved us twice yesterday, and I think we should thank you, you know?”

“Uh, ja, all right.” Caleb said, and Jester began the familiar motions of Sending while Fjord cracked his knuckles in preparation. 

“Hi, Astrid. We wanted you to know that Caleb - I mean, Bren, is ok. Thanks for what you did, I hope you’re not in trouble - “ Fjord cut her off, and she let out a frustrated huff. 

At first, it seemed like no response would come. Just when Jester had given up, she heard a groan - almost a word, but not quite. Then silence. 

“Uhhh….” Jester looked around at the others. “She didn’t really say anything? She just kinda, liked, groaned? I think?” 

“Like, in a sexy way? Do you think she’s fucking someone?” Beau waggled her eyebrows before catching Yasha’s eye, and both blushed.

“Uh, I mean, I guess it could be? But it sorta sounded like she was, um….’ Jester trailed off, biting her lip and looking at Caleb. His face was unreadable.

“In pain?” Fjord finished for her. Jester gave a short nod, still looking at Caleb with concern. “Caleb, do you think she got in trouble?”

He hesitated, seeming to consider. “Ikithon trusts Astrid as much as he can trust any of his pupils, I think. But if he suspected she and Eadwulf might have had a hand in our escape, they would be…. Dealt with accordingly.”

Jester grimaced, and the room grew silent as they contemplated Caleb’s words. “Would he kill them?” Fjord finally asked in a measured tone. 

“I - I do not think so, not when he has put so much effort into molding them. Not unless he believes they are no longer his to control. He would want to… ah, attempt to enforce their obedience once more.” Caleb’s eyes were far away, and Veth slipped her hand into his. He seemed to take strength from it. “It is nothing we - they, have not experienced before. But it is not pleasant.”

“You think he’s torturing them because they helped us?” Veth asked. Caleb inclined his head slightly.

Jester was already casting another spell, her fingers flying. “Eadwulf, is everything ok? Astrid didn’t respond and it was kinda weird. Are you in trouble because you, you know?” She glanced at Fjord and grimaced at the five fingers he was holding up. Haltingly, she finished with, “We… can… help… you… probably?” She shrugged at the rest of the party. “I don’t know, how could we even help them if they needed it? Maybe I shouldn’t have said that…” she trailed off as she heard a deep, halting voice return in her head. 

“Please… we need... somewhere safe… help… Astrid - “ the rest of his message was filled with Zemnian words Jester couldn’t understand and suspected were not meant for her. Even without knowing the language, though, she could hear the pain in his voice.

“He said they need somewhere safe to go. They’re not ok, we have to help them, tell them to come to us!” she looked at Caleb, who had gone still.

“Well, ok, hold on a minute.” Fjord put his hands up. “Who says this isn’t a trap? What, we get away and all of a sudden they’re in desperate need of help from us? When they were literally hunting us down not twelve hours ago?”

“Oh, it’s definitely a trap.” Beau agreed. 

“No, no, you didn’t hear them. He sounded like he was in pain. I don’t think he’s lying to us,” Jester insisted. 

Yasha spoke up. “Caleb, could Trent be telling them what to say? To trick us?”

Caleb scratched his arms. “He could. Of course he could. He could be doing anything.”

Jester huffed angrily. “If he’s torturing them because of us, we have to help. Astrid saved us twice yesterday. We wouldn’t have gotten away.”

Beau said, “No, this is insane. Are we seriously considering this? We cannot trust them! Astrid is the reason we got caught at the Sanitorium in the first place!”

“She said she didn’t!”

With that, everyone broke into the argument. Finally Caduceaus’s calm, measured voice broke through the squabble. “If it is a trap, and we tell them where we are, we’ll still have the advantage. Even Ikithon would know better than to send a full force of the Assembly to Rosohna when the peace is so new. We’ll have the advantage, and we’re fresh. We can fight, or teleport out. And if it’s not a trap, then, well, we’re paying them back for what they did yesterday.”

“Caleb?” Jester looked at the wizard, and the rest of the group’s eyes followed. “It’s your choice. Do I tell them where we are or not?”

Caleb ran his hands through his hair and down his face. When he looked back up, he was resolved. “Tell them.”

Without hesitation, Jester’s hands were flying again. “We’re in Rosohna. The house with the tree and the lights. You’ll know it when you see it. This better not be a trap though-” Fjord’s hands cut her off once more. “Ugh! Do you think they’ll find us!”

“I’d be surprised if they hadn’t already been in this house while we were away, honestly,” Fjord muttered. 

“Ok, so we’re doing this.” Beau rolled her eyes and stood, grabbing her staff. “Everyone ready for an ambush.”

Just then, a loud thud echoed from the entranceway. Beau led the sprint into the hall towards the door, pausing when she caught sight of the newcomers.

“Oh, that’s not good,” Caduceus said mildly, heading past Beau towards the two figures covered in blood and bruises in their hallway. Eadwulf was standing, swaying slightly, one eye bloodshot and one too swollen to open. In his arms was an unconscious Astrid. Her skin looked strangely dry and gritty, and her arms were place carefully so as to not disturb her twisted and broken fingers. Eadwulf tensed at the figures rushing towards him, as if preparing to fight, before catching sight of Caleb. “Bren,” he whispered, just as his knees gave out and he collapsed to the floor.

“Wait.” Fjord summoned his sword. “Can we trust you? If this is a trap, it will not end well for you.”

“No trap,” Eadwulf gasped. “I didn’t know what else to do. Where to go. He was - he was going to kill her, Bren, he has never been so angry…” he tucked Astrid closer to his chest as he gazed imploringly at Caleb. 

“Tell me,” Caleb commanded, and if his voice was sharp, it was softened down by him sinking to his knees and grasping one of Eadwulf’s hands. “Wulf, what happened?”

“We were sure he did not suspect what we did. But this morning, he called us to his office. We thought he was just angry that you had escaped, but he knew. It wasn’t just - just a lesson. He wasn’t going to stop, Bren. And when I heard your voice-” he glanced at Jester, “I just… I just wanted to get her out. I couldn’t think…”

Caleb didn’t move, but murmured, “Jester, Caduceus?” and the clerics rushed forward. 

“It’s ok,” Jester gave Eadwulf a soft smile as she gently took one of Astrid’s broken hands and prepared a healing spell. “We’ll help.”

Caduceus patted Eadwulf on the shoulder, sending a pulse of healing that had the other man straightening up. “We’ll get you fixed up and some tea in you, and then we can all just take a minute to discuss.”

“Do you still have the amulets against scrying?” Fjord asked, and Eadwulf gave him a tense shake of his head. 

A chorus of swearing filled the hall. “FUCK,” Veth said, leaping for the Haversack to dig out two of their remaining amulets and shove them around the newcomers’ necks. Fjord muttered an incantation, and the sword flashed for a moment as he looked wildly around. Beau snapped, “Caleb, the mansion.” 

He nodded and began the spell as she turned towards Eadwulf with fury in her eyes. “The hell were you thinking? After the day we just had, you’re bringing him right back to our doorstep?”

“No eyes on us yet,” Fjord said, scanning the room. 

“I am sorry,” Eadwulf said quietly. “There was not time to think of alternatives.”

“It takes time to scry,” Jester said, not looking up from Astrid. “We have a few minutes before he can see us.”

“You better fucking hope that’s the case,” Fjord said darkly. “Because if he shows up, we’re getting the hell out and leaving you two behind.”

“No one is leaving anyone behind,” Caduceus said calmly, just as the door to the tower popped into existence. 

“In, in, now,” Caleb helped Eadwulf up and ushered him, carrying a now-stirring Astrid, through the door. Fjord went last, searching for any scrying eyes one last time before the door shut behind them. “I think we’re ok,” he said. 

Eadwulf placed Astrid on the ground her eyes started to open. She froze, eyes darting around until she seemed to recognize the people circling her. “Bren?” she breathed. “Did you…” she sat up slowly, turning to face Eadwulf. “Wulf, what did you do?” 

His face was stoic. “They will help,” he said simply.  
“No, we need to go back,” she said. She reached for her spell component pouch and cried out in pain, seeming to realize the state of her hands for the first time. “Wulf, we need to leave.”

“We cannot,” Eadwulf said, switching to Zemnian. “Astrid, he was going to kill you-”

“And what will he do now?” She hissed back at him in Zemnian. “You think he’s going to welcome us back with open arms? We cannot hide from him! No, Bren,” she raised a hand as Caleb started to interrupt. “You slipping out of his grasp, again, has angered him more than I have ever seen. He will not just let us disappear into the wind as well. He will hunt us down, and we will wish for the death you just ran from.”

“We will kill him first,” Caleb said quietly. “You were already preparing for that, were you not?”

“Not like this! Not when we have just lost any advantage we may have had by running away!”

“Look, I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on, but can we switch to Common for the sake of those who just saved your damn lives?” Beau snapped. 

Astrid glared at the monk, but said in Common, “This was a hasty and foolhardy idea.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t disagree. But you saved our lives, so we saved yours. We’re even. And I kinda feel like you should be thanking us from getting you away from the dickhead. You’ve got the amulets we nearly died for. You can go wherever you damn well please and Trent never needs to know.” 

“Oh? And how did that work for you? It took us, what, a full hour to find you yesterday? Yes, you’re certainly the experts on disappearing,” Astrid said icily. 

“Ok, ok,” Fjord placed a hand on Beau’s arm. “Let’s maybe not pick a fight with the half-dead assassin right now. How about we just talk this over. We have some time, right? We can’t be scryed on in the tower.” Caleb gave a confirmatory nod. “So, why don’t all take a minute to cool down and meet in the dining room in half an hour. Then we can figure out who’s killing who and when. Ok?” Beau gave a begrudging nod, and the others followed. 

“I will show you to your room,” Caleb said, offering a hand to help Astrid up. She ignored his offer to try to push herself up, hissing in pain. Once standing, she swayed so alarming that Eadwulf wrapped his arm around her to keep her up. Caleb led them silently to the guest rooms, leaving the rest of the Mighty Nein to sort themselves out. 

“I thought I would make something familiar,” he said quietly when they reached the door. The door opened, and Eadwulf paused as he took in the familiar dormitory room. Without a word, he helped Astrid to one bed, and sat heavily down on the other. 

“Astrid. Will you tell me what happened?” Caleb asked, dropping to a chair across the beds.  
She sighed. Now that they were alone, the hardened mask had cracked, and Caleb could see the pain and fear of the past day written on her face. “We knew warning you in Nicodranas was a risk. But… it was my fault he caught you. I truly believed he would not be there,” she said, an almost pleading tone in her voice. “I did not intend to betray you.”

“Go on,” Caleb said, his own face expressionless. The others had told him the same, but he hadn’t decided if he believed it yet.

“There wasn’t time, when he got to Nicodranas, for him to wonder where we had been. We just moved. When we got there, and the Chateau was dark, he was furious. I think he started to suspect then. But I was foolish, and hoped that if we played our roles correctly, he wouldn’t think to look at us. We followed your trail, and tracked you to the tower. Trent sent me in, as a test, I think. When I told him you were already gone, he didn’t ask questions. He was already so angry. You escaped him twice in one day,” she said with a wry smile.

“We were prepared for questioning when he called for us this morning. But when we got there… he knew, or at least suspected, that we had helped you. It wasn’t an interrogation. It was a punishment.”

“It was a death sentence,” Eadwulf corrected. He looked at Caleb “You remember the feeling - during the worst times, when you think you could not possibly survive any more, but you know that it will end just before you can fall over the edge, that he will not let you die.” Caleb nodded. That feeling, of wanting death but knowing it would not come, of hating such a weakness when Master Ikithon was expecting better, that was something he would never, ever forget. 

“This was not that. There was not going to be a reprieve, Astrid. It was going to be slow, and drawn out, and it was not going to end.” Astrid stared straight at the wall, avoiding both of the boys’ eyes. But Caleb had helped her build her mask of stone when they were students. He knew her every facial expression, what it looked like when she was trying to hide something. No one but he and Eadwulf would have noticed the twitch in her expression, the tiny tell that meant she was trying to hold back tears.

Slowly, Astrid looked down at her hands, and flexed her fingers one by one, almost as if trying to work out a sore muscle. Only the shakiness in her movements betrayed the pain that came with the action. “He would not have killed us. He has invested too much time, too much effort.”

“No. This was the last straw. He has not trusted us fully since Bren returned, and he does not suffer betrayal. There was no going back.” Eadwulf said.

Finally, a single tear slipped down Astrid’s cheek. She squeezed hard on one of her broken fingers, as if to focus her pain on something external, rather than the maelstrom inside of her. 

“I’m sorry. And thank you,” Caleb said softly. “I know the sacrifice you have made for me. I do not deserve it, but I appreciate it all the same.”

Astrid gave a humorless chuckle. “We missed you,” she said simply.

“You have the amulets now. You are welcome to eat with us or alone, or leave as soon as you are rested. The tower will not stop you. But… you are also welcome to stay with us. Our next journey is dangerous. We may not survive. But if we die, at least I will know that it was because of my choice, to try to help the world. That is more of a purpose than I had for many years.” Caleb stood slowly and put one hand on Astrid’s shoulder, reaching out to take Wulf’s hand with the other. “You may make your own decision. But know that… the Mighty Nein have a tendency to find the best in people. Even if we do not deserve it. They will accept you, as they did me.” Slowly, carefully, he leaned down and placed a kiss on first Astrid’s, then Eadwulf’s head. Then he walked through the door, leaving the two in silence behind him. 

The next morning, as the Mighty Nein prepared to leave the tower, Astrid and Eadwulf appeared, with bruises turning purple and bandages peeking out from under clothes. “We will go with you,” Astrid said. 

And they did.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: Astrid's skin is describe as weird and dry because recently in my D&D game, my character got infected by an evil plant and the only way to get rid of it was just throwing a bunch of Horrid Wilting thrown at her and hoping the thing died before she did. It sucked, y'all. Don't get Blighted to near-death. 
> 
> I know this will not happen but tbh it would be dope if it did, right? There's NO way Trent is just gonna... be chill rn. I'm concerned for Astrid. Because we were RIGHT to trust her!! She's doing her best!
> 
> Also - this is my first fic I'm actually posting. Usually they just end up in the drafts on my phone?? Kinda surprised I've gotten this far, tbh. I don't really have a good sense of anyone's tone yet - esp Astrid and Wulf. Sorry. But hey, yolo, right?


End file.
